Director
“It’s an honor to be part of the LUC family.
Every day I look forward to the rewarding work of keeping the boathouse running smoothly.”
Mara found her passion for rowing in 1988 just out of middle school at Mount Baker rowing, followed it with a year at the University of Washington and then trained in a single on her own. She found her permanent rowing home at Lake Union Crew in 2002, where she rows as part of the Nationally Competitive team. She has been an integral part of the boathouse since then as a rower, coach, and as a volunteer helping maintain our boathouse.
Mara spent three years at Race In JL managing the store and getting to know the business side of the rowing community. Before that she spent years at the Northwest Outdoor Center where she led classes and trips in the San Juans. She also brings considerable experience in managing and coordinating large and small construction projects—building a four seat fiberglass plane, retrofitting a 107′ steel tugboat, building 3 wooden kayaks, retrofitting a 1965 fiberglass sailboat, and maintaining her family’s locally designed Riptide 55 sailboat.
As the Director at LUC she’s doing what she loves in an official capacity through management, boat and facilities maintenance, and anything else possible to keep the boathouse running like a fast eight.
Office Manager, Learn to Row, Sweep and Scull
Patty started rowing in 2011 and immediately fell in love with the sport, and with Lake Union Crew. Some of her favorite LUC activities include Crew Caroling and the LUC Holiday party, the Buddy Row (pancakes and bacon!) and Row for the Cure (see photos of Facebook and you’ll know why). Her favorite part about coaching is passing on her enthusiasm for rowing to new rowers. Anyone who walks in the door and meets Patty catches her passion and has a great time.
Nationally Competitive Men, Sweep and Scull, Competitive Sculling
Brian learned at Lake Union Crew back in the day when we had an amazing junior program. He started out in a pair and stuck with it so you know he’s a rockstar. He came back to LUC to row and coach a few years ago and we couldn’t be happier to have his leadership and perspective running multiple programs here.
Nationally Competitive Women
“Rowing has taught me that there is no finish line. You can always push a little harder, go a little farther and do a little more, on the water or off. As a coach, rowing continues to provide opportunities for me to learn and grow and I love creating those opportunities for others.”
Amy began rowing in high school at Mount Baker, spent four years rowing for Radcliffe, and rowed with Lake Union Crew as an adult. She was a member of the Junior National team and has won nationals at the junior, collegiate and masters level. Amy is a USRowing Level 3 certified coach and she enjoys working with individuals along the whole spectrum of skill and experience. In addition to coaching LUC’s Nationally Competitive Women’s team, she teaches kids and adults how to row, and coaches for Eastside Prep. When she isn’t at the boathouse, she enjoys time in the mountains, hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing.
Advanced Rowing Group, Boats, Private Lessons
Gil has been rowing with LUC for years now (do we even remember when he wasn’t here?) and not only coaches a fantastic group of evening rowers, he backs up Martha in the shop with all things that need an extra hand. His experience in strength building and passion in rowing make him a fantastic coach and he does many of our private lessons for everyone from youth beginning rowers to experienced masters.
Locally Competitive, Regatta Coordinator
Adrian is a jack of all trades at the boathouse; he is a coach, regatta master, coxswain, boat fixer, and always has the tool you need for the job. If something is working really well at the boathouse Adrian is usually behind it. You can find him out flying around the lake in a single when he’s not driving a coaching launch or fixing something.
Learn to Row, Sculling, Team Building, Coxing Clinics
“I love the satisfaction of passing on to others my love of rowing and the possibility of experiencing what I have.”
Marilyn took an LUC Learn to Row class in the spring of 2004 and it was love at first stroke. After just 15 months of rowing, she was tapped to move up to the Women’s Nationally Competitive team, and 2006 was a memorable and incredibly exciting year of rowing, racing, and medals. What a thrill at age 60!!! Marilyn continues to row with the Nat Comp women, and she recently started sculling competitively. Not only has rowing given this pre-Title 9 female the chance to call herself an athlete, but it has also brought a new level of health and fitness to her life and enriched her world with a wonderful new family of friends.
Retiring after 30 years in the classroom, Marilyn began to think about the possibility of coaching, and when a coaching internship was offered in the spring of 2012 she took advantage of the opportunity. Skills learned over her years in the classroom now help her introduce people to the sport she loves and has benefitted from in so many ways. She takes great pleasure in seeing people come to Learn to Row and make the transformation from curious but often unsure and anxious beginner to excited budding athlete with growing confidence and skill who are thrilled with their accomplishments.
Morning Advanced Sweep and Scull
Tiffany has been rowing since 2006 and coaching since 2014. As a coach, she enjoys motivating athletes—especially those who didn’t row in high school or college—to push themselves beyond their self-perceived limits. She encourages people to be active, to stay fit, and to have fun. In her opinion, there’s no better sport for that than rowing!
Tiffany’s favorite rowing memories are winning the San Diego Crew Classic Women’s B race in 2013 and taking gold in the Novice Women’s 4+ at the NW Master’s Regionals in 2007.
Competitive Scullers
Having rowed for the Huskies’ class of ’83, earning a silver medal in the men’s coxed four at the 1984 Olympic games, and competing in the coxless pair at the 1988 Olympics, Ed’s competitive rowing past is an asset that all at the boathouse appreciate. Along with rowing, Ed has competed in the X-Games as a rollerblader, and enjoys riding long distances on his bike.
Sub Coach, Rower
Judy has been rowing at LUC since the fall of 2011 and has been coaching beginners since the spring of 2013. When coaching she tries to instill the necessity of teamwork in her rowers, telling them that ultimately rowing is a spiritual exercise in letting go. She finds working with beginners to be the most fun because every small success or epiphany brings a little bit of joy into the universe.
As a rower, Judy has won medals at Northwest Masters Regionals, BC Champs, and Canadian Masters Nationals. She has also competed at the San Diego Crew Classic and in local head races. She prefers sprints to head races and sweeping to sculling—and you won’t change her mind on either.
Team Building Coach and Boatman
“Not only do I enjoy rowing, I love teaching Learn to Row. I started my rowing career at LUC, and it’s great to now share my passion for rowing with others.”
In addition to being head Learn to Row coach, Martha serves as LUC’s boatman and keeps things orderly and running smoothly around the boathouse. Martha grew up sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, messing around on boats since she was five years old. Thirty years as a Navy wife taught her how to fend and fix anything. She now strives to keep our shells, oars and other equipment in tip top condition.
Aidan has been rowing with Lake Union Crew since he was in eighth grade, and now coaches there in the evenings. He brings a wealth of experience from rowing in middle school, his competitive career in high school, a brief stint training as an elite, and his current niche as a masters rower. After training with novices, Olympians, and everyone in between, he has a deep passion for long-term, sustainable athlete development and the joy that comes from hard work with friends. In his free time, he’s usually in the weight room, on his bike, or daydreaming about his goal of hitting all 61 of the National Parks.
Seattle Scullers
Matt grew up in Chicago, IL where he learned to row as a student at Loyola Academy. Since then his competitive career as an athlete and coach has seen him represent 13 different organizations in competition. In his first job after graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Matt lead the New Trier Boys Crew to their first SRAA National Championship in 2007. After moving to Boston, Matt founded the Institute for Rowing Leadership in 2010, guiding the organization from the initial planning stages to the submission of its accreditation folio to the National Council for the Accreditation of Coaching Education in 2014, all while coaching the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School to its first appearances at the both the NEIRA and USRowing Youth National Championships. Since moving to Seattle, Matt started the Seattle Prep Boys Crew with nine novices in 2016 and over the course of the next two years qualified 3 boats for the USRowing Youth National Championships, winning a Bronze Medal in the Men’s Youth 1x in 2018.
Matt’s interests in entrepreneurship, leadership and education extend far outside the coach’s launch, having spent time as the President of the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association, Lead Educator at CRI’s Executive Leadership Training Program (Boston, MA), and English Teacher at both New Trier High School (Winnetka, IL) and the Lakeside School (Seattle, WA).
Guest Coach
Hugh Tompkins IV has experience coaching junior, collegiate and masters rowing. Hugh ran the freshman men’s program at the University of Florida and coached a summer program for Holy Names Academy at Pocock. He has been coaching masters rowing at Lake Union Crew since 2011 and is currently the Nationally Competitive Women’s coach.
His career as an athlete started in 1992 at rowing powerhouse Winter Park High School in central Florida. As a junior Hugh won multiple state championships and placed 2nd in the Championship 4+ at Stotesbury. After 3 years of rowing in high school, Hugh moved on to the University of Florida, stroking the lightweight varsity eight as a freshman. After five years of rowing in the gator infested lakes of Florida, Hugh transferred to the predator-free waters at the University of Washington where he stroked the varsity 4+ for two years.
Now he’s back coaching the very team in FL where he learned to row and guest coaches when he’s in town.
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